Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives On The Opioid Crisis: Fighting Fentanyl; The National Arguments And Personal Agony Of Addiction
USA Today: We're Making Strides In Protecting Americans From Fentanyl
efore you finish reading this article, another American will probably die of a drug overdose. Every year since 2015, more Americans have died from drug overdoses than died in the entire Vietnam War. The annual toll soared from 36,450 in 2008 to 64,000 in 2016. On average, seven Americans die of a drug overdose every hour. As a result, drug overdose is now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50. (Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, 10/31)
Los Angeles Times: Do We Really Want To Stack Oxycontin Next To The Jim Beam?
One painful aspect of the public debates over the opioid-addiction crisis is how much they mirror the arguments that arise from personal addiction crises. If you’ve ever had a loved one struggle with drugs — in my case, my late brother, Josh — the national exercise in guilt-driven blame-shifting and finger-pointing combined with flights of sanctimony and ideological righteousness have a familiar echo. (Jonah Goldberg, 10/31)
Arizona Republic: Arizona Needs A Good Samaritan Law To Save More From Opioid Overdoses
Last month, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported in its Opioid Action Plan that more than two Arizonans die each day from opioid-related overdoses. ...As policymakers tackle this urgent issue, it’s important to not lose sight of the core principles of human dignity and individual liberty — and one proposal in the Action Plan that deserves applause for respecting these principles is the Good Samaritan Law for bystanders reporting an overdose. (Jeffrey Singer, 10/30)
